RETHINK Fundraising - Wellington 2026

Join us for a full day of inspirational talks, panel discussions and practical workshops that will leave you energised, AND armed with a toolkit of actionable learnings to take your fundraising to the next level.

Details

Date: Thursday, 5 March

Venue: Mākaro Room, Wharewaka Function Centre

Time: 8am-5pm

Cost: $249NZD (exc GST)*

Contact: Anna Shere [email protected]

* If you prefer to pay via invoice, please email [email protected].

The programme

For those of you who joined us for RETHINK Auckland 2025, please note that RETHINK Wellington will feature many of the same sessions from that event, with a few additions to the programme and two new guest speakers.

In the morning session, discover branding blind spots and ways to strengthen charity comms to maximise engagement and retention. Then jump into a facilitated workshop to apply your learnings and receive tools to transform your organisation's image and voice.

After lunch, dive into the intersection of data, behaviour and personalisation. Explore insights into the pain points and opportunities found by experienced managers of legacy programs. Gain practical personalisation and AI tools to ramp up acquisition and retention in another facilitated workshop. Close out the day with Fundraising Follies, a chance to connect with your peers and enjoy the view over drinks and nibbles.

CFRE accreditation

Full participation in RETHINK Fundraising is applicable for 7 points in Category 1.B -Education of the CFRE International application for initial certification and/or recertification.

Event partners

Change&Co, DATAM, mimo, re:brand, and Tedirex. Special thanks to FIA/FINZ for their support of the day.

RETHINK has been designed by fundraisers for fundraisers, and we’re keen to make sure you get the most out of the day. We promise no hard-sell, no product placement, and a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

The idea is for you to leave at the end of the day with a roadmap to greater donor engagement – and a sense of renewed energy for what lies ahead.

Info: In a sector focused on campaigns, conversion, and compliance, brand is often overlooked. But brand isn’t just a logo or a nice story. It’s how people feel about supporting you. And if it's not clear, engaging, or modern – you’re leaving both money and meaning on the table. This presentation from Tim Dove at re:brand will challenge a few norms and show some examples of it being done well. He’ll get you thinking about your organisation and how you can ensure you’re avoiding the ‘brand blindspot’. 

Info: When it comes to getting people enthused about our cause, too often we focus on the what rather than the why. Worse, we risk boring our audience to death with earnest, organisation-centric communications which neither inspire nor instruct. Dominique Antarakis from Change&Co will show you a new and fun way to look at your charity comms for maximum engagement and donor retention.  

Info: Facilitated workshop which will provide the opportunity to take the learnings from the morning sessions and give you the practical branding and comms tools to take back to your organisation - and transform your fundraising! 

Info: This presentation from mimo/datam will show you how to transform raw data into meaningful, multi-channel interactions across email, SMS, voice, and direct mail - all from a single platform. This session will challenge how you think about personalisation - it’s not just about names in subject lines or open rates in eDMs, it’s about burning down the old school campaigns and rebuilding around behaviour, context and connection. 

Info: Based on interviews with practitioners from organisations large and small, this session shares unfiltered insights from Gift in Will managers who are doing the work every day—what's actually generating pledges, where they're getting stuck, and what they wish they'd known sooner. Through their collective wisdom, and guided by TEDIREX’s Martin Ruane, we'll explore the biggest challenges facing legacy programs today, the opportunities hiding in plain sight, and tactical takeaways that work for both beginners and experienced practitioners. 

Info: Facilitated workshop which will provide the opportunity to take the learnings from the afternoon sessions and give you the practical personalisation and AI tools to ramp up acquisition and retention.  

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Host or Publisher Change&Co